Irksome
by blackfuzzdevil
Summary: He had no idea it was going to rain. Zim barely had time to look up before the storm began. And he had no idea there was someone who would help him, or the impact she would have as their fates intertwined. He just wished she wasn't so Irksome.
1. Ground: ZER0

Hello! Blackfuzzdevil here with my first Invader Zim fanfiction!

Disclaimer: I do not own Zim, yadda-yadda. If I did, you think I'd be here? If you really want to sue, all you'll get are student loans.

* * *

He had no idea it was going to rain. The earth weather forecaster never said anything about the sudden spring storm that popped up, rolling black clouds over the city with impossible speeds. Zim barley had time to look up at the first sound of thunder before the down pour began. He dropped to the soaked ground and writhed, screaming. Slowly, agonizingly he dragged his smoldering body to a relatively covered alleyway. There he lay, smoking and sizzling every time the rain blew in from the street. He couldn't even muster the strength to call the incapable SIR he called a minion. Not that GIR would be any help. He was always clubbing with the female meat-sacks when Zim needed him most.

He couldn't tell how much time had passed before he heard voices at the front of the alley. "That's it, deal off." It was a light voice, female-human. Zim couldn't see from his angle.

"No, you can't…" Deeper, definitely a dirt-male. The wind blocked part of his sentence. "I need the money."

"You promised me the goods. You have only have half the goods, thus you only receive half the payment. I can get…" The wind picked up again.

There was some grumbling before heavy footsteps splashed out into the soaked streets. Zim breathed a sigh of relief. The earth-monkeys were gone.

_The last thing I need is to be found by the stink-beasts in this condition._

"Hullo, what's this?" Oh, Irk. The female never left. Zim growled deep in his throat. The human just barely stifled a gasp, but Zim's antenna picked it up. The invader couldn't see well—rain must have hit his eye—but he could feel the human lean over him, smelly wetness wafting from her clothes.

Zim snarled again, but instead of frightening the human away, she moved closer. The invader squinted at her from one good eye, just making out brown eyes framed by fizzy hair. He followed her eyes and realized she was watching his skin smoke as water dripped from her hair onto his arm. Funny, he didn't even feel it. The human looked at the alley's opening where the sky was draining buckets of water into the streets. She turned back to Zim and frowned. Standing, she moved away from the injured alien, took off her coat, and shook it out. Satisfied, she moved back to the limp form and tucked the jacket around him, covering every bit of skin.

"There we go, friend. We'll get you out of the rain and safe in no time." She grunted as she hefted the bundle.

"Not…friend," Zim tried to struggle, really he did. He was just too tired and he burned all over. The couple of words he got out was pained and came between gasps.

She grunted. "Should have told me that after I got you out of the rain." Zim hissed at the threat, but the female never acted on it. Pulling the jacket hood over Zim's face, she slipped from the alley, trying to be inconspicuous despite her burden.

Karis tried to keep to the shadows, but she still managed to attract a few suspicious stares. It didn't help that she tripped every few steps, unbalanced by the alien. He…she… it, she wasn't really sure what to call it, but it was heavy considering its stick-thin limbs. It probably had something to do with the metal backpack it wore. It looked kind of like an Easter egg, round with purple dots.

Hurrying across the street, Karis came to a small apartment complex nestled between two office buildings. She shouldered open the door, moving quickly to the third floor and laid the bundle on the floor. It stirred, groaning as the creature inside tried to uncover its face. Karis did it for him. She cringed.

One eye was shriveled, blackish-green liquid oozing into the vacant space around it. The other wasn't much better. There was a wrinkled, white glob bunched at the bottom of the eye but the rest of the eye was a glossy red. It looked healthy enough, she supposed. If it really supposed to look like that. A door slammed above them, clacking footsteps echoing down the stairwell. Karis hurried to open the door and drag her burden through the door. She almost had the door closed when a foot jammed through the crack, forcing it back open. Karis looked up, leaning half over her jacket. Staring back was the landlady.

"Where's the rent?" The old woman had a sour face, cheeks sagging like a pitbull.

Karis pulled the bundle farther into the room. "I'll get paid by Friday. I can have it to you then."

"Always same story. 'I have it soon,' she says. Then soon comes and still no rent. Good for nothing. Why I keep you here, I donno." She moved away.

Karis sighed in relief and tried to close the door. It pushed back open.

"Oh, one more thing," Karis jumped as the landlady stuck her head back in. "Clean up mess in hallway. I don't want lawsuit because someone slip on puddle. Oh, and if that bag is dead body, get rid of it. Don't need more problems from tenants." With that she left. Karis quickly shut and locked the door behind her and flicking the light switch nearby. She allowed herself one more sigh before stepping over the lump on the floor and walking further into the apartment, turning on lights as she went. Rain battered against the windows. Soon she had a makeshift bed made, complete with clean sheets, pillows, towels, and a heap of medical gauze.

Grunting, she picked the bundle up and placed it on the bed. Gently she removed the coat, but no matter how carefully she peeled, the creature whimpered in pain. Karis jerked back when chunks of green skin clung to the coat and she could feel bile rising to the back of her throat. Swallowing hard, she pulled the jacket out from under the body. It screamed and rolled away from her, fisting the blankets in gloved hands.

He was in bad shape. Thousands of raindrop wounds scattered across his body, melting clothing into flesh, flesh into a liquid mess. It wasn't human, that was for sure. It probably wasn't even from earth, but Karis knew it would die if she didn't stop the liquid from leaking on to her sheets. As morning closed in and the rain continued to drop, Karis slowly cut the creature's melted clothes away, then cleaning and dressed its wounds. The only sign it was alive was the gentle rise and fall of its chest. It barely even twitched as she wrapped it head to toe in gauze. That done, she settled back and resigned herself to waiting for it to wake.

She studied it to pass the time. Green skin, where it could be seen through the gauze, red eyes, one patched, the other closed, black…sticks poking out from the gauze. Antenna, Karis guessed, since it didn't have ears. They were the only thing that didn't appear to be injured. It didn't have a nose, either. Small hands and feet were tipped with three claw-like fingers. It was…completely foreign, alien. Karis leaned back in her chair.

_So what now?_

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**PLEASE READ:**

A few notes on this story. Don't expect updates faster than once a month. I'm sorry, but between classes, work, and social commitments, I don't have a lot of time for personal writing. Please bare with me. Also the chapters will continue to be fairly short.

If people actually end up liking the story, please review. It will give me the encouragement needed to update faster. And, plus, happy authors make for good stories. Helpful critisisim is also welcome. It makes authors write good stories, too. So, really, it's in your best interest.


	2. Ground: 0NE

**Irksome**

Summary: He had no idea it was going to rain. Zim barely had time to look up at the first sound of thunder before the down pour began. He also had no idea that there was someone out there that could help him or the impact she would have as their lives intertwined.

*Note about Zim's speech patterns: He's been on earth approximately 5 years now, but his speech still isn't natural, but it's getting there. He still sometimes refers to himself in the third person but his vocabulary has expanded.

Disclaimer: Ha! If I owned Zim, I'd rule the world through the utter chaos of GIR's mind! Wahahahaha ha…ha. On with the show…

* * *

**Ground: 0NE**

Zim hurt. Everywhere. Gritting his teeth and swallowing a groan, he sat up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the human said. Zim turned slowly, feeling the burns on his back stretch and scream in protest. She was leaning against the far wall. She was wearing the nasty gym clothes and was holding a stick the worm-babies at skool used to play bass-ball. He didn't understand the game. It had nothing to do with fish.

"Why are you dressed for recreational activities of…activeness, human?" If Zim had felt up to it, he would have screamed this and pointed at the dirt-creature. However, he settled for glaring at her. She just blinked back.

Whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't this. "Recreational activities?" She looked down at the bat and let it swing a little. "No. This is if you're hostile, Martian."

"I am no Martian. What would make you say that?" Zim laughed nervously.

"Are you kidding me? Look at yourself." Zim did.

"Ah! My disguise! What have you done?" She picked one of his contacts off a shelf and flapped it around.

"You mean this? How could this possibly be a disguise?" Zim growled and pushed himself to his elbows. The human pointed the bat at him. "Careful, you'll open your wounds." The sight of the bat infuriated Zim.

"Inferior being," he shouted. He could feel some of the wounds open just like she said. "Do you think that stick could stop ZIM?"

"In your condition, yes."

"You underestimate me, worm-baby," Zim's mechanical legs shot from the Pak, lifting him off the couch. The human's jaw fell open and her eyes widened. Zim relished in her fear. It was almost enough to ignore the fire eating at his skin.

He lunged, raising a leg to hit her. She swung the bat to meet him. He skittered sideways, a mechanical leg glancing her shoulder. She cried out and swung the bat. It swept the legs out from under the alien and they retracted into the Pak, sending him to the ground. He screamed in agony.

His antennas were ringing and spots danced across his vision. Someone was cursing in the background. As his senses cleared he found the human leaning over him, speaking.

"You idiot," she shouted. "The wounds are open again." Zim could feel heat soaking into his back and sides. The human began peeling away layers of bandages, using a nearby towel to soak up extra blood.

"Why?" It was all he could manage. He hated her touch.

She didn't respond for a while, still unraveling the gauze. "I don't have an answer for you yet." She got up, disappearing from Zim's sight, and came back with more bandages and clean towels.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Zim growled. She continued to touch. "I'll kill you. Your entire race, I'll kill all of you dirt-monkeys. Your planet will be turned into a parking-station for the glory of the Empire." The human reached behind her, bringing out the bat. "I'll dis—," she swung and Zim's world went black.

She finally finished redressing the alien's wounds. It went faster once it was quiet and stopped squirming. She hoped she didn't hit it too hard. She shrugged to no one and sat back, questioning her sanity.

_Why?_

It was obvious it was hostile. It already tried to kill her, or at least maim her. It was bleeding too much anyway. Why was she keeping it alive?

Paranormal science held no interest for her. She didn't want fame or fortune for her find. She didn't was government recognition for turning the alien over to the FBI.

She just wanted out—away from the business, away from the streets. And it had the ability to escape to the stars. She could rehabilitate it, make it nice. Surely her sweet and tender nature would show it that there were things worth saving in this world. Then it would agree to take her into its spaceship. It would fly her to a friendly planet and give her everything she needed to survive, then fly away to find it inner self in the starry unknown.

Karis snorted then burst out laughing. Like that would ever happen. It was a boring idea anyway. But it did explain at least some of her hope in the situation.

Oh well, no sense dwelling on it. She, hopefully, disabled the metal appendages that had come out of its back. And there were other things that needed tending, like getting more bandages and finding Daniel.

* * *

Zim couldn't get his mechanical limbs out. They refused to budge.

When he had woken up, Zim found he was on the bed again, his wounds treated and his Pak's arms unresponsive. The dirt-monkey would pay for touching him. _Oh, how she will pay_.

Zim tried the communicator. He smirked when the device shot over his head and dangled in front of his face. It connected to the one that sat in GIR's empty head.

"Hiya, Masta'!" The bot screamed between strings of chocolate-bubblegum Freezey. It oozed and bubbled out the opening of his dog suit.

"GIR, I've told you not to eat those disgusting things. And where are you?"

"Aww, not the Brain Freezey," the SIR pouted. Behind him loud voices echoed and legs streamed in and out of the view screen. "I'm at the mall with Gaz!" Brain Freezey forgotten, the robot gave a stupid grin.

"GIR," someone off screen shouted angrily. The Gaz-human no doubt.

"I gotta go Masta', demon piggies are coming out tonight."

"No, GIR, wait!" The robot paused. "GIR, go back to the base and get the shiny green tube that I told you to never touch out of the lab. Then hack into the pitiful humans' satellite system and use it to track my location. Bring the green tube here. Got it GIR?"

GIR's eyes flashed red and he saluted. "Yes, Master." There was a flash of cerulean and a "after we get the piggies" as the screen disconnected. Zim groaned. It would take forever for Gaz to get her new game, and even longer for GIR to remember his orders.

Zim sat up the best he could with a pained grunt. He took in the small room. There was a large window, the sun glaring through and illuminating everything. It was surprisingly clean for a dirt-monkey, everything organized neatly in little cubbies and organizing thingies around the room. The TeleVisor was in one corner, on but muted, the news-humans' mouths flapping silently. A shelf stacked with books stood next to the inferior technology. There was little else in the room.

Zim wondered if he could make it out the door before the female meat-sack returned.

He had only made it to the middle of the room before she returned. It was excruciating. Then he thought she was going to kill him because he opened his wounds from dragging himself along the floor. Instead, she stepped over his prone form and threw curses at him for a while as she unloaded the multitude of plastic bags she had come back with. Of course, being Zim, he could only take so much. He started yelling back after the first comment.

"How can you be so dumb?" She slammed a box of foodstuffs on the kitchen table in the next room.

"Don't mock Zim, meat-sack! Your whole race put together could not match the smartness that is Zim."

"Jeez, what planet spawned you and your superego?"

"I'm an elite solder from the planet Irk."

She snorted. "Irk? You do realize that we have a term in English that sounds the same, right?"

"It means 'amazing', doesn't it," he really sounded convinced. The human peeked around the corner of the doorframe. Zim realized it was the first she looked at him since the shouting match began.

"You're serious, aren't you," she said as she fled back into the kitchen.

"Of course I'm serious, Zim is always serious."

"Ah, I see," her voice paused and she came to stand in the doorway. "So, what is Irk like?" The human said it quietly and, what was the earth term, _timidly_. Zim grew suspicious, then realized she avoided telling the English term 'Irk'.

"Tell me what your meaning of Irk is, first, human." She fidgeted.

But she never had the chance to answer. Something hit the front door hard, rattling the hinges. Both beings jumped.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate. I also wanted to apologize for the long wait. I know that when I read fanfictions I quickly lose interest if the author doesn't update at least every few months. Too much happens in daily life. That goes for writing, too. Just hang in there with me—I promise it's well worth your time!


	3. Ground: TW0

**Irksome**

It's been awhile, hasn't it! This semester was a real kicker and I haven't been able to focus anything except writing for classes. I've decided I'm not made for writing for public relations…and it's my minor. Eck. Anyway, here's the next chappie!

Disclaimer: Same as all the other chapters—I don't own Invader Zim and all its affiliated fun stuff. Please don't sue!

* * *

**Ground: TW0**

"_Jeez, what planet spawned you and your superego?"_

"_I'm an elite solder from the planet Irk."_

_She snorted. "Irk? You do realize that we have a term in English that sounds the same, right?"_

"_It means amazing, doesn't it," he really sounded convinced. The human peeked around the corner of the doorframe. Zim realized it was the first she looked at him since the shouting match began._

"_You're serious, aren't you," she said as she fled back into the kitchen._

"_Of course I'm serious, Zim is always serious."_

"_Ah, I see," her voice paused and she came to stand in the doorway. "So, what is Irk like?" The human said it quietly and, what was the earth term, timidly. Zim grew suspicious, then realized she avoided telling the English term 'Irk'._

"_Tell me what your meaning of Irk is, first, human." She fidgeted._

_But she never had the chance to answer. Something hit the front door hard, rattling the hinges. Both beings jumped._

"J-just a minute!" The human looked at the invader still sprawled on her living room floor. Zim returned her wide-eyed look and scrabbled to sit up. "Here," she said, coming to his aid. He recoiled but didn't have a choice as she pulled him to his feet.

"Open this door right now," the deep voice was followed by more pounding. "Don't make me break the door in!"

"I said hold on," the girl shouted. Zim's antennas rung from the sound. Irk, why did he hurt so much? It pained him more to have to rely on the dirt-monkey than standing in the dumb, doomy rain without his paste.

She dropped him on the bed and rushed out the door, slamming it behind her. In the next room Zim could hear the pounding stop.

"It's about time."

"Daniel, you came?" Zim could see the stupid human's expression—eyebrows scrunched together and mouth agape—in his mind.

"You told me to bring the medical supplies and, against my better judgment, I decided to help out." Zim felt the new human's footsteps more than he heard them. He must be big, even for a dirt-monkey. "So what do you need it for? One of your junkie friends get roughed up?" Zim searched his Pak for the word "junkie."

"Something like that," the female answered.

"That's not good enough, Karis."

Zim frowned when his Pak failed to come up with a translation, just like the earth term 'irk.'

"I'm clean, Daniel. You know that. Just…trust me on this, please? He really needs help, but can't go to a hospital. Help me. Please?" Zim growled as the female pleaded for him. He needed no one's help!

"I'm here, aren't I," the male answered. There was some shuffling then, "So where is he?"

"Not here," Zim's human said.

"I don't believe you."

"Deal with it."

As with all important moments in Zim's life, GIR chose the worst to interrupt.

The green, dog-suited robot screamed in joy as he propelled himself through the bedroom window, shattering it. Zim grabbed GIR in an attempt to stop him, but the robot soared into the door, which burst open on impact and sent both sprawling onto the carpet.

"Big man!" With a squeal, GIR latched himself around the human's bald head. He yelped and tumbled to the floor, causing the whole apartment to quake. Zim's human seized the bat that was still resting against the wall.

"Get off Daniel!" She cried. The robot obeyed. As soon as he was away from her friend, the female swung the bat with all her might, sending the dog-thing into the bedroom. She ran to shut the door, throwing a blanket over Zim as she passed. He gave an indigent shout which she covered by talking. "Jeez, darn dogs are always getting into my apartment. I don't know where they come from." She gave a nervous chuckle.

"Dogs? _Green_ dogs get into your _third_ story apartment? You have got to be kidding me. And I thought I heard glass breaking! Karis, stop lying to me." The big man sounded furious. Zim agreed. The female-worm had no right ignoring him and trying to destroy his SIR. Though the Irken wisely stayed silent.

"Daniel. Please, trust me. I won't get to deep. I promise."

"Do you even remember the last time you made that promise? You ended up a crack whore, dropping out of med school to chase highs."

"That's not fair." Zim's antennas perked up at his human's tone. It was quiet, but laced with pain and anger. Zim liked it.

"Karis," the male-worm started.

"No."

"Karis," he tried again.

"No, get out. Thank you for your help. Now please leave." There was some shuffling towards the door.

"If you need me, don't hesitate. You know I'll be there for you, right?" The question hung in the air, unanswered as the female shut the front door. There were more footsteps and the blanket was lifted from Zim.

"Dirt-monkey! How dare you throw…," Zim's rant died off as he looked at his human. The doomy liquid was leaking from her eyes.

"What was that thing?" she asked, wiping the tears away.

"Eh? Oh, you mean GIR. He's harmless." The human lifted him up and set the alien down on the makeshift bed. Zim craned his head to watch her disappear into the bedroom with his good eye. He heard a shriek from GIR and his human came back into view, the robot attached to her head.

"Harmless my butt. He's cutting off circulation to my brain." She sent Zim a small smile.

"Masta,' I have the green stuff!" GIR exclaimed happily, tenderly placing the vial of green goop into Zim's hands.

"Good GIR." The robot gave a squeal of joy and tore through the living room to root through the human's food-storage. She followed with a cry of outrage.

"Get out of my kitchen you freak-of-nature dog!" Zim chuckled as he listened to the human's distress. Reaching into a part of his pack the female didn't tamper with, he pulled out an injection kit. Popping the green tube into the slot Zim injected himself with a concentrated dose of his own blood mixed with healing antibodies. Only a few minutes and he should be able to leave the pitiful human's care. Zim sighed in relief. "What'd you do?" Zim jerked up, pulling the dead skin on his back painfully as the human yelled at him. "What was that injection?" A red eye met two angry, copper eyes.

"It was merely a healing method far superior to your puny gauze."

"Forgive me, your highness, for not knowing what would kill your superior alien as—"

"Yea! A burrito!" The robot walked into the living room with a bachelor's burrito, still wrapped, stuck in his mouth.

"GIR, don't eat the disgusting human food," Zim barked.

"You must be feeling better if you're yelling." Zim glared at the young human as she walked past, picking up GIR and taking him to the kitchen so he wouldn't stain the carpet.

"Oh yes, feeling much better, Dirt Baby. So good I should probably get going. You know, lots of stuff to get done around the base: machines to fix, weapons to build, worlds to conquer." Zim stood up on shaky legs. The human eyed him, watching him for weakness.

"So it's true then. You _are_ trying to take over earth."

"Why wouldn't I?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"I…no, never mind. I guess this is good bye then?"

"Eh, heh. Yeah. GIR let's go!"

"Yes Masta,'" the bot screamed and opened up the jets in his legs.

"Hey," Zim paused in his climb onto the SIR unit and looked at the human. "You know where to find me if you need anything. Make use of it, ok? My name is Karis, by the way."

"I have no need for your hospitality, Karis-worm. And you may call me Zim. Not that we'll ever meet again. Now, onward GIR!"

"Yahoo!" GIR jerked forward, almost dropping Zim, and shot through the broken bedroom window. Karis shook her head in wonder, trying to figure out what she'd tell the old landlady.

* * *

Woo, another chapter! I should be able to post a little more frequently for about a month before I'm shipped off to an internship and life gets hectic again. Thanks for reading and please review!


	4. Ground: THR33

**Irksome**

Two updates in one month; I'm doing good! Standard disclaimer applies: I don't own nada. Don't sue unless you want student loans.

* * *

**Ground: THR33**

It had been over a month since Karis first met the green alien. She lazed in bed and listened to the chilly autumn rain beat against the window, unable to sleep because of the nightmares--the screams from the Street and a man in a white trench-coat. Drifting between wakefulness and dreams in the early morning, trying to block the dreams, Karis wondered what _he_ was doing at that moment. Did he sleep? Was he working on a machine to destroy humanity or was he cleaning up after his green doggie? Her bedside clock glared 2:46 A.M., bright red.

If she had been deeper asleep, Karis would have missed the sound of her living room window being opened.

If she had been just a little less awake, Karis would have missed the groan as someone tumbled into her apartment.

But by now she was wide awake. Grasping the baseball bat resting near her nightstand, the young woman crept into the main room. Someone sat underneath the window cursing and rubbing his head. The smell of burning flesh reached Karis' nose.

"Zim?" She raised the bat a little.

"Eh? Oh, Karis-worm."

"Don't sound so surprised to see me. I do live here after all," she said, lowering the bat and resting it against the wall.

"Yes, but don't stink-beasts usually sleep during this time?"

She ignored him for a question that was pestering her. "What are you doing back? I thought I remembered you saying I'd never see you again." She smirked at him in some small victory.

"Zim is just passing through. What are you doing here, huh?"

Karis ignored him again and poked her head out the window. Three stories bellow a boy wandered into the alleyway looking like he'd lost something. He looked up at her, his glasses flashing as the street lamp glared off them. The boy made to climb the fire escape, but stopped as police sirens were heard. He ran, his trench coat billowing out behind him and combat boots echoing through the alley.

"Who was that, Zim?" Karis pulled her head back into the warmth of her apartment and shut the window.

"Dib-stink. He's the most annoying of all the horrid children at Skool. He tries to reveal what I am, but no one believes him, the fool. Zim is just the foreign exchange student with a green-skin disease. Who could see through this disguise!"

Karis blinked. What an explanation. "What use would an alien have at school? Can't you just get information off the internet or something?" Zim squinted one eye at her.

"But I need to observe the humans. Hi Skool is a good place to find the weaknesses of the pitiful stink-beasts." The girl laughed and started making a bed for Zim on the couch.

"And how long have you been 'observing'?" She tucked a piece of brown curl behind her ear. Zim mumbled. "Come again? I didn't quite catch that."

"Five years," he grumbled, glaring at her. "Five years I've been stuck on this miserable dirt-ball."

Karis fell silent. Five whole years he'd been away from his home, his family and friends (Did Zim even have friends? He seemed more like the loner, keep-to-himself type). The human felt unhappiness settle in her gut like a rock.

She cleared her throat, drawing Zim's dejected gaze from the floor to her. "Feel free to stay the night," she said, trying to shake the twisting in her stomach. "Just don't go out the front door in the morning. The landlady's on my case again and might be hovering outside the door waiting for me."

Zim cringed at the thought. He indeed remembered the obnoxious landlady. Pushing himself off of the wall he was leaning against. Then he noticed something. "Zim's grown again."

Karis turned to look at him. When she first brought him to her apartment over a month ago his head met with her shoulders. Now the top of his head reached her nose. "Does your entire race grow half-a-foot in a month?"

He looked at her with something strikingly similar to concern reflected in his red eyes. "I reached my full height almost a hundred earth-years ago. Zim is now one and a half feets taller since coming to the accursed planet earth."

"Wow. You were one short sucker." Zim rounded on her in all the fury of a growing, red-eyed alien.

"You dare talk to Zim that way?" he shouted. Karis backed down and raised her hands up to placate, for once actually feeling threatened by the healed alien. When he was wounded, a bat would save her. Now she had nothing.

"Sorry—didn't know it was such a touchy subject," she muttered. Zim stared at her a moment before relaxing.

"Zim will need to use your living facility for a few hours. Then I can promise you won't see me again."

"I all ready told you, you're free to come and go as you need. Make use of it because if the landlady has anything to say about it, I won't be here much longer." Karis finished the couch-bed and left for her own bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

It was probably around 5 in the morning when Zim opened that door. Karis continued to regulate her breathing and kept still as he came to stand by her bed. What he was doing, she couldn't tell since her back was to him. There was the barest hit of footsteps before he was rustling through her drawers. "You know, whatever you're looking for would be far easier to find if you just asked me," she rolled to face him, but what she found wasn't Zim. "You!"

The boy from the alley looked back at her, terrified. The look vanished as he said, "Ma'am, I'm with the FBI and it is believed that you a-are," he started stuttering as Karis sprung from the bed and grabbed the bat sitting next to the nightstand. "That you're harboring a dangerous alien. Ma'am, you do know it's illegal to harm a member of the FIB. Ma'am? Ma'am!" Karis swung, purposefully missing the boy's head by a few inches. He ducked under the bat and made for the door.

Karis got there first. "You're that nasty little boy from school, aren't you? The one trying to get Zim deported. Whatever you think, kid, Zim's legal and I'd appreciate it if you stopped heckling my friend," she swung for emphasis. "Not only do you abuse him, but now you're trespassing in my house," another swing, pushing the thin boy against the wall. "I should call the cops and have you arrested for breaking and entering and harassment."

"Please, wait! You don't understand. He's dangerous!"

CRACK. The bat connected with the boy's knee and he fell. "Get out of my apartment," her voice was low and grated. Rage made the bat shake in her hand. The impudence of this kid, to break into her apartment looking for evidence against an alien Karis had seen all of two times, to steal into her bedroom while she slept so he could riffle through her stuff. "Or the next time it will be your head."

The boy fled. He limped with all speed out of her bedroom and out the front door. It slammed shut behind him.

Karis lowered the bat and sighed. Then clapping sounded from above her. Looking up Karis found Zim suspended from the ceiling by his mechanical legs. He continued to clap even as the legs lowered him to the carpet. He had a manic grin stretched across his face, flashing zipper-teeth. "Zim, what did you do?" Her voice had that dangerous edge to it still and her grip tensed around the bat.

"When Zim saw the Dib-creature climbing the fire escape. I simply took the bat and slipped into you room. If Zim just so happened to shut the door just as the Dib was looking, then it was just an honest mistake."

"Like Hell it was. That boy's right, you are dangerous." Karis rubbed her forehead, a headache forming.

"Zim could not allow the human to see me without a disguise in your presence. Your heinously wonderful speech would have been ruined!" Karis grumbled some colorful curses in response. Zim cackled in response. "The rain has stopped, Karis-worm. Zim will be off now."

"What about the kid?"

"He won't find me on the rooftops." And with that the alien left her once again.

* * *

Another chapter, another adventure. Poor Karis seems to have bad luck when Zim's involved--arguments with friends, green-dog infestations, trespassers. Shame he's only going to bring her more trouble but she'll get back at him plenty :). It's been interesting writing this last chapter because my original plot wasn't panning out the way I'd hoped so my imagination dashed off in another direction. I have to drop random tidbits of information to help turn the direction of the story. Hopefully it will work out well... ;)

Please review and let me know how I'm doing!


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